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[sonycowboy]

According to Nintendo at E32004...at least 40% of the GBA's userbase is made up of people over the age of 18. So its not as inconsequential as you think.

I think I'll need to see some actual backup for this. I've saw the press conference and I'm pretty sure it's not there, so that leaves some article written by somebody referencing this. I simply cannot believe that number.

If it is true, then PSP will KILL Nintendo in handhelds, because there's no way in hell Nintendo is covering that market. I know everybody loves the Marios, Pokemons, Donkey Kongs, but current sales show us that they love Halo, GTA, MGS, GT alot more.

 

[xsarien]

If it is true, then PSP will KILL Nintendo in handhelds, because there's no way in hell Nintendo is covering that market. I know everybody loves the Marios, Pokemons, Donkey Kongs, but current sales show us that they love Halo, GTA, MGS, GT alot more.

Given the rather dismal attach rate for portable gaming, it would seem that you don't need much in the way of a string of mega hits to keep the average gamer occupied.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

Damn, you'll need bigger pockets if you buy a DS...

Nuh-uh! DS has teh BC dood!

 

[GDGF]

Given the rather dismal attach rate for portable gaming, it would seem that you don't need much in the way of a string of mega hits to keep the average gamer occupied.

Yep. Adult portable gamers are the casual of the casual. You don't buy 20 games for a system you only play on roadtrips.

 

[GDGF]

I know everybody loves the Marios, Pokemons, Donkey Kongs, but current sales show us that they love Halo, GTA, MGS, GT alot more.

Oh, and I think you might need to recheck those current sales again, guy. Just to be sure

 

[Bluemercury]

to answer the question of this thread; DS.

Dont you work for Ubsoft or something?if yes, can you elaborate why your answer was DS?

 

[kaching]

All those predictions just caught me completely by surprise!

 

[Christberg]

I think I'll need to see some actual backup for this. I've saw the press conference and I'm pretty sure it's not there, so that leaves some article written by somebody referencing this. I simply cannot believe that number.

If it is true, then PSP will KILL Nintendo in handhelds, because there's no way in hell Nintendo is covering that market. I know everybody loves the Marios, Pokemons, Donkey Kongs, but current sales show us that they love Halo, GTA, MGS, GT alot more.

I'd have to dig up the press conference vid again to get the exact numbers, but I think it's about 40% of buyers of the SP are over 18, but the overall is still something like 20% over 18 instead. George Harrison discussed the figures in his E3 presentation but I think I took a short nap during that part because it was too boring for words.

Regardless, this rationale that Nintendo will get their asses handed to them if they did already have 40% of their buyers over 18 is something I'd have to strongly disagree with. The reason is, Nintendo IS covering the adult market pretty well on GBA already- hell, look at the big GBA releases this holiday, and right at the "top of the crop", so to speak are Final Fantasy 1&2 and Grand Theft Auto Advance. Regardless of that fact, the GBA's lineup is quite mature in terms of breadth and scope at this point, looks pretty damn good on a 3" screen, and rules the roost in terms of nostalgia value which is a big seller to us "oldschooler" gamers.

Given the price difference (we'll see exactly what it is but the PSP will be more expensive guaranteed), the pre-existent lineup the GBA has, and the market momentum they're pushing right now with the holiday season launch advantage here in the US (and if analysts are to be believed, quite possibly Japan too) youd have to be a fool to think Sony has anything but an uphill battle at best to beat the DS, much less the GBA.

Just my opinion, take that how you will.

 

[FitzOfRage]

As far as the demographics, not sure about the GBA as a whole, but Nintendo did mention at their E3 press conference that 1/3 of SP users were over 18, and they were expecting the release of the NES Classics series to draw in more (probably got overlooked, since it came from George Harrison, not Reggie ).

And I don't know if they still do this, but they used to target a lot of their handheld marketing towards frequent flyers (in travel magzines, airports, and other venues that might reach them), and reportedly had a lot of success that way (even though those peoepl weren't apt to walk down the street carrying one).

I've saw the press conference and I'm pretty sure it's not there

I'm pretty sure it is in there (I think it was 1/3 though not 40%, though not a huge differnce anyway, since people seem to have expected it to be closer to 10%). It was during George Harrison's comparitively more boring section, so easier to misss, since thre was a strong compulsion to start skipping ahead when he started talking.

 

[explodet]

I'm just a little surprised there aren't more PSP vs. GBA discussions - when the PSP was first announced, it was all everyone could talk about. These days it's mostly about the upcoming PSP vs. DS battle.

 

[JJConrad]

Launch Lineup
EDGE: Currently Sony, but that could change if Nintendo surprises us with some big-time announcements in October.

Too early to say. We don't enough about either to make an educated statement on this subject. If the gap between the two systems releases is long enough, launch lineup will be irrelevant.



First-Party
EDGE: Nintendo's first-party offering have always been among the strongest in the biz.

Agree. Regardless of your personal opinion of Nintendo's 1st party games, their utter dominance in the handheld market can not be ignored. It's been the primary reason for the GBA's success.



Third-Party
EDGE: Sony has the edge, but it's closer than some might think.

I don't know; they're too close to call and it falls completely based on one's personal feelings. The PSP still has some suprising omissions in its list.

If this catagory was code for "(known) Overall Line-up," it would go solely to the DS. The GBA backwards-capatiblity, alone, secures that.



Pricing
EDGE: Clearly Nintendo DS—$149.99 is too appealing to the mass market even if the PSP does more than just games for $225-$299.

At this point... Agree. Sony still needs to make an announcement on this, but it looks like I'll probably still agree after that. Software prices may be a more important factor, though.



Launch Timing
EDGE: Once again, Nintendo.

Well...duh.


Experience
EDGE: Nintendo certainly has more experience when it comes to the handheld market.

Again... Duh.


Battery Life
EDGE: Nintendo DS, especially if it is closer to 10 hours.

Still waiting for better clarification from Sony, but agreed.


Marketing
EDGE: Nintendo gets the edge, but only slightly.

Agree. Nintendo's marketing has been very good for the last year and a half.. .especially in the handheld scene. In that same time, Sony's has been rather lackluster. Mindshare is more important and, for handhelds, Nintendo wins that, too.



Consumer Cool Factor
EDGE: Sony PSP, nobody does "cool" better

OHHH....TAY!!!


Overall
The portable market is ready to explode, and both of these systems are going to dramatically expand the market. Sony and Nintendo may be offering different portable experiences, but it's going to be a close battle for sure. DFC Intelligence president, David Cole, is predicting that market share will be "fairly evenly split" between the two.

Nintendo has nothing to prove. They own the handheld market. It's Sony that's the challenger here, but we all know what happened with the original PlayStation don't we? All we can do now is wait and enjoy the ride.

EDGE: You didn't really think we'd pick a winner here, did you?

COP-OUT!!

 

[DrGAKMAN]

Some mis-conceptions:

-GBA is not just for kids

-just because you believe that GBA is just for kid's doesn't automatically make DS just for kids too...with it's sophistocated interface, more features, better graphics and higher pricetag we can already see that the skew for Nintendo DS is going to be slightly older

-still hanging on to the "Sony will bring more adults to portable gaming" trump card? well there's a reason why some people don't buy portables and it has little to do with age & demographics...it has to do with the FACT that portable gaming will ALWAYS be seen as SECONDARY to console gaming

-someone already stated this, but I think it needs to be stated again...just because Sony has a way with marketting and is on top of the game in *console* gaming doesn't mean instant success in portable gaming

This all said, both Nintendo DS & PSP will be successes in their own right. They're so different in fact that I don't see how the games will "compete" with each other on "competing" platforms since DS clearly has the advantage in gameplay and PSP has the clear advantage in graphics.

 

[Justin Bailey]

I'm just a little surprised there aren't more PSP vs. GBA discussions - when the PSP was first announced, it was all everyone could talk about. These days it's mostly about the upcoming PSP vs. DS battle.

The PSP was announced long before the DS was.

 

[Ranger X]

Dont you work for Ubsoft or something?if yes, can you elaborate why your answer was DS?

It's a totally personal choice. The DS is in the same position right now as if it was a successor of the GBA even if Nintendo don't want it to be. It's sales are going to be directly influenced by the strong userbase of the GBA.
Nintendo name on the machine + powerfull userbase + support by devellopers + 149$ = winner.

 

[jarrod]

I know everybody loves the Marios, Pokemons, Donkey Kongs, but current sales show us that they love Halo, GTA, MGS, GT alot more.

Er, actually, current numbers show they love Pokemon the most.

13+ million for Ruby/Sapphire worldwide, putting it comfortably ahead of all versions of GTA3 combined (PS2, PC, Xbox), all versions of Vice City combined (PS2, PC, Xbox), all versions of Halo combined (Xbox, PC), all versions of MGS2 combined (PS2, PC, Xbox) and GT3. Kids = sales.

Nintendos first party games are not that good any more... I would still give them a very small margin over sony (even thought I like sonys games better).

Actually, I'd say SCEI has by far the better 1st party PSP lineup so far over Nintendo's DS stuff. Conversely though, DS has a much more exciting 3rd party lineup at this stage... as usual people jump to the consolish Nintendo= great 1st party & Sony= great 3rd party stereotypes rather than looking at the actual PSP & DS lineups. :/

 

[JJConrad]

Er, actually, current numbers show they love Pokemon the most.

13+ million for Ruby/Sapphire worldwide, putting it comfortably ahead of all versions of GTA3 combined (PS2, PC, Xbox), all versions of Vice City combined (PS2, PC, Xbox), all versions of Halo combined (Xbox, PC), all versions of MGS2 combined (PS2, PC, Xbox) and GT3. Kids = sales.

In addition, the Mario Bros. franchise has over sold over 17 million units this generation in just the USA and conitnues to sell at a rate of more than 250k per month... not counting SSBM or the Wario and Donkey Kong games.

sonycowboys statement has very little basis in reality.

 

[Go Go Ackman!]

Nintendo name on the machine + powerfull userbase + support by devellopers + 149$ = winner.

Sony's Name on a machine + powerful hardware + elegant design + support from ps2 devs + big name titles = winnar

 

[Tim]

Sony's Name on a machine + powerful hardware + elegant design + support from ps2 devs + big name titles = winnar

I'm guessing you purposely left out the price of the thing?

 

[dark10x]

-GBA is not just for kids

Nobody said this.

 

[Shompola]

"13+ million for Ruby/Sapphire worldwide, putting it comfortably ahead of all versions of GTA3 combined (PS2, PC, Xbox),"

Comfortably ahead? Isn't GTA 3 series on PS2 alone in NA something ridiculous like 10M allready?

 

[Baron Aloha]

I think I'll need to see some actual backup for this. I've saw the press conference and I'm pretty sure it's not there, so that leaves some article written by somebody referencing this. I simply cannot believe that number.

It was said during the press conference. I over-estimated the number slightly though. To quote George Harrison "It may surprise you to know that 1/3 of Gameboy Advance owners are over the age of 18." They show a pie chart and everything. I'd take a screen capture but for some reason Window's Media player doesn't get captured with I press the print screen key. I'm sure someone else who has the vid can back up on it though.

He says it around the 17:58 mark, just after discussing GBA video and Pokemon.

Edit: And here's an article that mentions the figure:

http://www.planetgamecube.com/news.cfm?action=item&id=5275

The figure is quoted in the 7th paragraph.

Also, given the release of the NES Classic model (and games) and the fact that all of the GBA owners have aged another 4-5 months since then, its safe to say that the percentage has gone up 1 or 2 points.

 

[JJConrad]

Nobody said this.

I see that you've posted in this thread several times, but are you actually reading it?

Or are you being a literalist?

 

[Deg]

It was said during the press conference. I over-estimated the number slightly. To quote George Harrison "It may surprise you to know that 1/3 of Gameboy Advance owners are over the age of 18." They show a pie chart and everything. I'd take a screen capture but for some reason Window's Media player doesn't get captured with I press the print screen key. I'm sure someone else who has the vid can back up on it though.

He says it around the 17:58 mark, just after discussing GBA video and Pokemon.

Edit: And here's an article that mentions the figure:

http://www.planetgamecube.com/news.cfm?action=item&id=5275

The figure is quoted in the 7th paragraph.

well yeah portable gaming does have many younger age groups. Mainly because they are more tech savy than older people. Its a similar figure for mobile phone game downloads. handheld gaming is still growing and it'll take a while for those younger ages to grow up yet.

 

[dark10x]

I see that you've posted in this thread several times, but are you actually reading it?

Or are you being a literalist?

It was suggested that GBA is a platform more commonly owned and played by children. It was never implied that the platform is exclusively played by them, simply that they represent the majority of the GBA owning population. That much is true.

 

[jarrod]

"13+ million for Ruby/Sapphire worldwide, putting it comfortably ahead of all versions of GTA3 combined (PS2, PC, Xbox),"

Comfortably ahead? Isn't GTA 3 series on PS2 alone in NA something ridiculous like 10M allready?

GTA3 and Vice City are each around 10-11 million worldwide, and that's across 3 platforms for both. If you want to add all the GTA games together, the series is around 25 million total (while all the GB Pokemon RPGs combined are around 95 million).

 

[Bluemercury]

It's a totally personal choice. The DS is in the same position right now as if it was a successor of the GBA even if Nintendo don't want it to be. It's sales are going to be directly influenced by the strong userbase of the GBA.
Nintendo name on the machine + powerfull userbase + support by devellopers + 149$ = winner.

So what is Ubisoft working on DS?Can you elaborate i've heard some rumblings on a Splinter cell and Rayman.....can you confirm it?

 

[GDGF]

I've heard about an unofficial Starwars DS title in the works as well. Any truth?

 

[kaching]

-GBA is not just for kids

-just because you believe that GBA is just for kid's doesn't automatically make DS just for kids too...with it's sophistocated interface, more features, better graphics and higher pricetag we can already see that the skew for Nintendo DS is going to be slightly older

-still hanging on to the "Sony will bring more adults to portable gaming" trump card? well there's a reason why some people don't buy portables and it has little to do with age & demographics...it has to do with the FACT that portable gaming will ALWAYS be seen as SECONDARY to console gaming

As dark10x pointed out, nobody said it was but there is an outstanding question as to just how far and greatly into the adult demographic that GBA popularity penetrates. We have some indication of "over 18" owners but nothing that specifically quantifies the interest level across age groups over 18.

Your first three points seem a bit in conflict here. First, you say that GBA isn't just for kids. Then, you say that DS has the ability grow the older audience even more. But when it comes to the PSP you promptly do a 180 and suggest that the portable gaming audience is a static population that Sony won't be able to grow or diversify.

And I'd argue that - in the increasingly "uprooted" societies of the modern world, where one may not necessarily travel far from home but spends an increasing amount of time away from home - portable gaming has the potential to encroach on the userbase of traditional, sedentary console gaming now and in the near future, and then augmented further down the road by advances in portable technologies for displays, interface, etc.

-someone already stated this, but I think it needs to be stated again...just because Sony has a way with marketting and is on top of the game in *console* gaming doesn't mean instant success in portable gaming

I think very few are suggesting this. Outside of people like Go Go Ackman who seem to think Sony success is formulaic and as regular as the postman, most people don't see a silver bullet for Sony success.

But then, it's easy to stick to conventional wisdom and play out the "Sony fails" scenario. Sony (or any competitor) is never going to succeed in the handheld gaming market against Nintendo if they don't somehow succeed in changing the rules to their favor and/or capitalize on naturally changing trends in the marketplace. So it's not a matter of ignoring the obstaclces in front of Sony, it's a matter of stating how they can be overcome. No surprise then that things like "Sony's marketing muscle" and "expanding the demographic" are mentioned in such discussions.

 

[Date of Lies]

The portable market is ready to explode, and both of these systems are going to dramatically expand the market. Sony and Nintendo may be offering different portable experiences, but it's going to be a close battle for sure. DFC Intelligence president, David Cole, is predicting that market share will be "fairly evenly split" between the two.

Nice analysis there mister Cole, but Sony has alot to prove to the masses before it can compete with the Nintendo handheld, not that Sony can't do it or anything, but let's face it, they're entering a whole new market with an already strong leader at it's head, how blind do you have to be before saying something like it will equal the market leader at this point?

Not that it couldn't happen, but still.

 

[NWO]

Pricing
EDGE: Clearly Nintendo DS—$149.99 is too appealing to the mass market even if the PSP does more than just games for $225-$299.

Has anybody else heard the rumor that the PSP will be $349.99?

I've seen it mentioned on a few sites and forums but nobody has brought that up here unless I've missed it.

 

[FoneBone]

I've heard about an unofficial Starwars DS title in the works as well. Any truth?

What exactly did you mean by that? I don't think an "unofficial" licensed game could ever get released.

 

[Ranger X]

I'm not even working in the handheld department and if i would, i most probably woudn't be allowed to tell you anything so...

Another thing on the PSP; Sony is still well placed. I guess it's the DS who will win but the PSP will most probably be a strong second. Stronger than the Gamegear was against the Gameboy i think.
If Sony is lucky and forseeing things right, it may be true that the industry is now big enough to really have a market for portable gaming machines wich means that a "2 handheld at the same time world" could exist.

 

[JJConrad]

It was suggested that GBA is a platform more commonly owned and played by children. It was never implied that the platform is exclusively played by them, simply that they represent the majority of the GBA owning population. That much is true.

Fair enough. However, there were a number of trolls in this thread clearly saying that the GBA was just for kids (and nerds).



If you go by Nintendo's statistics, there are approximately 7 million GBA owners over the age of 18 in the USA and that number will naturally increase over time. That is in no way a small number. There is room for the PSP to expand that, but it'll be a tough challenge.

 

[Date of Lies]

I'm not even working in the handheld department and if i would, i most probably woudn't be allowed to tell you anything so...

Another thing on the PSP; Sony is still well placed. I guess it's the DS who will win but the PSP will most probably be a strong second. Stronger than the Gamegear was against the Gameboy i think.
If Sony is lucky and forseeing things right, it may be true that the industry is now big enough to really have a market for portable gaming machines wich means that a "2 handheld at the same time world" could exist.

Japan did see some substancial success of handhelds outside Nintendo's, WonderSwan and Neo-Geo come to mind.

 

[Alex]

At this point, I'd have to say both fail pretty well. But to be fair, currently PSP has the best tangible software line-up, and DS has the best on-paper one.

 

[GDGF]

What exactly did you mean by that? I don't think an "unofficial" licensed game could ever get released.

No, no. Just unofficial as in not announced yet, not unofficial as in fan made. My bad

 

[DCharlie]

"At this point... Agree. Sony still needs to make an announcement on this, but it looks like I'll probably still agree after that. Software prices may be a more important factor, though."

after seeing the PSP and having a play with it, after standing jaw open drooling all over the absolutely :O screen, i'd have to say i'd be surprised if this clocks in even at $300.

Either that or Sony are going to swallow big losses on the PSP, have a "shortage" issue to help prevent a massacre, then get the cash back from UMD/Games ? Hmmm... seems risky but that's maybe what they are cooking...

If it does turn out to be 349$ (about 40,000 yen) i personally wouldn't die of shock.

 

[Go Go Ackman!]

I think very few are suggesting this. Outside of people like Go Go Ackman who seem to think Sony success is formulaic and as regular as the postman, most people don't see a silver bullet for Sony success.

Regular and formulaic? Definately not.

But this thing isn't, say, the PSX - an answer to a question nobody was asking. This is a legitimate, all-out leap into the handheld business. Sony isn't fucking around with hardware, they have dozens of titles that have proven success on PS2, and the hardware (arguably) has PDA/iPOD-like status symbol appeal.

Look at the success of GBA SP relative the original GBA. There is obviously a growing amount of gamers who are willing to pay a premium for a handheld with extra features, just ask the executives at Nokia and the guys who make Tapwave Zodiac. PSP will be the creme-de-la-creme of handhelds, no doubt about it. Yeah, price may be an issue, but price comes down in the long run... how long did PS2 remain at it's launch price?

Finally, as much as I hate to resort to this argument - no one saw sony taking the console market from nintendo, and look what happened. Yes, I know that handhelds are a different game with different rules, but I don't see it as different from the console market as you do. Is there some sort of rule saying that nintendo can't lose?

Feel free to argue semantics all you want. Call me a Sony fanboy or whatever makes you feel like an online alpha male. I'm looking at things objectively and calling them as I see them.

edit: Also, LAH LAH LALA KATAMARI DA MA SHIIIII!!!

 

[xsarien]

Look at the success of GBA SP relative the original GBA. There is obviously a growing amount of gamers who are willing to pay a premium for a handheld with extra features, just ask the executives at Nokia and the guys who make Tapwave Zodiac. PSP will be the creme-de-la-creme of handhelds, no doubt about it. Yeah, price may be an issue, but price comes down in the long run... how long did PS2 remain at it's launch price?

Huh? All the Zodiac and nGage have proven is that it takes more than beating the GBA feature-for-feature to get into its market. But that was something anyone could've pointed out well before Tapwave and Nokia even thought about portable gaming. The Game Gear, Lynx, Turbo Express, NGPC, and Wonderswan all fell to the Game Boy; all were much more powerful.

It's Nintendo's battle to lose, Sony's the one who needs to prove that they know the handheld market backwards and forwards, and I've gotta tell you, starting off at a price that rivals most home console systems isn't really what I'd call a great start. The Game Boy sells because it's cheap, it has a back-catalog of games that spans 15 years, and has excellent battery life.

It's a completely different matrix. You don't win the portable market with technical prowess, you win it with making something people want, and whether the mass market is ready for a video game machine/movie player/music player that would cost a small fortune to replace if lost or stolen, (and can't hold as much media as other devices probably better suited to the task) is up for debate.

 

[sonycowboy]

Regular and formulaic? Definately not.

But this thing isn't, say, the PSX - an answer to a question nobody was asking. This is a legitimate, all-out leap into the handheld business. Sony isn't fucking around with hardware, they have dozens of titles that have proven success on PS2, and the hardware (arguably) has PDA/iPOD-like status symbol appeal.

Look at the success of GBA SP relative the original GBA. There is obviously a growing amount of gamers who are willing to pay a premium for a handheld with extra features, just ask the executives at Nokia and the guys who make Tapwave Zodiac. PSP will be the creme-de-la-creme of handhelds, no doubt about it. Yeah, price may be an issue, but price comes down in the long run... how long did PS2 remain at it's launch price?

Finally, as much as I hate to resort to this argument - no one saw sony taking the console market from nintendo, and look what happened. Yes, I know that handhelds are a different game with different rules, but I don't see it as different from the console market as you do. Is there some sort of rule saying that nintendo can't lose?

Feel free to argue semantics all you want. Call me a Sony fanboy or whatever makes you feel like an online alpha male. I'm looking at things objectively and calling them as I see them.

edit: Also, LAH LAH LALA KATAMARI DA MA SHIIIII!!!

I agree. I think Sony is looking so closely at price points it's scary. They're trying to determine, what is the maximum price that they can charge and still have a kick-ass launch. They don't need hundreds of articles written that say it's too expensive and that scares people away.

Sony IS going to launch this thing. You can't launch something at too high a price, have nobody buy it, and then drop it weeks later saying, "We were just kidding, what we really meant was that it should have been half that price". That would leave the product stillborn, have publisher pissed as all hell for screwing them over and costing them millions in R&D & development, and pretty much doing the same to consumers.

They know ALL of this and more. You don't get a second chance. My expectation is that they will lose money, probably significant, at launch. They've already got the best hardware (IMO), great software support. The launch timeframe is probably a product of manufacturing, cost management, & software dev time. As far as the battery goes, it will be the BEST that they can possibly make it. It will probably disappoint some, but it won't be because they just funked it up. It will be because it's as good as can be done within reason.

 

[JJConrad]

Few semantics:

-The premium GBA SP was released at the original price of the GBA of $100. A giant leap from the premium $250+ PSP.

-Did you just use the N-Gage as an example for entering the handheld market?

-The PS2 didn't drop in price after launch for a year and a half. (US)

-All factors that resulted in the PX1 beating the N64 do not exsist in this case.

 

[Go Go Ackman!]

Few semantics:

-The premium GBA SP was released at the original price of the GBA of $100. A giant leap from the premium $250+ PSP.

-Did you just use the N-Gage as an example for entering the handheld market?

-The PS2 didn't drop in price after launch for a year and a half. (US)

-All factors that resulted in the PX1 beating the N64 do not exsist in this case.

- And would you have paid more if it had a more robust feature set? Say, $50 more if it had build in mp3 playback?

- Nokia obviously saw a demand for this kind of handheld unit, it may have done well if they didn't fuck up every conceivable aspect of the N-Gage.

- Really? Exactly how long was PS2's head start against GC and Xbox? Hmm, maybe Sony is willing to drop its prices when there's competition in the market...

- Really? Asides from PSP launching later than DS, I see a lot of similarities.

 

[xsarien]

- Really? Asides from PSP launching later than DS, I see a lot of similarities.

Like? Cartridge vs. optical media? Maybe it's just me, but in a portable device, I know I'd prefer solid-state over a mechanical drive. Yeah, the latter can read media with larger storage, but it's also a battery hog and just another thing that I have to be careful about not breaking. This isn't a $20 Discman, it's a $300 Jack of All Trades.

 

[Shoryuken]

.

- Really? Asides from PSP launching later than DS, I see a lot of similarities.

Like what? This situation almost seems like the complete opposite.

 

[Go Go Ackman!]

Well true enough. I guess I'm biased against the cartridge format because I see it as a limiting factor in GBA's software quality. My point is really that sony is moving in on nintendo's territory with force...

 

[FitzOfRage]

There is obviously a growing amount of gamers who are willing to pay a premium for a handheld with extra features, just ask the executives at Nokia and the guys who make Tapwave Zodiac.

I think the fact that an executive decides to launch a product says nothing about whether people actually want that product.

 

[Celicar]

Launch Lineup

EDGE: Currently Sony, but that could change if Nintendo surprises us with some big-time announcements in October.


That isn't good for Nintendo. What the hell do they have up their sleeves? The DS is out in a couple of months, right?

 

[xsarien]

That isn't good for Nintendo. What the hell do they have up their sleeves? The DS is out in a couple of months, right?

Out in late November, with an Everything You Could Possibly Want to Know About the DS (But Were Afraid to Ask) blowout on 7 October or so.

 

[Ranger X]

Japan did see some substancial success of handhelds outside Nintendo's, WonderSwan and Neo-Geo come to mind.

Now i forsee "success" and not just "substancial" that is.

 

[kaching]

Regular and formulaic? Definately not.

Sorry, but that's the way your this + this + this = winnar comment reads like above, as well other opinions you've offered recently.

But this thing isn't, say, the PSX - an answer to a question nobody was asking. This is a legitimate, all-out leap into the handheld business. Sony isn't fucking around with hardware, they have dozens of titles that have proven success on PS2, and the hardware (arguably) has PDA/iPOD-like status symbol appeal.

Actually, people are asking the PSX question, just not the way that Sony executed and delivered the first time around (badly). The "home media server" isn't a large market yet but it is one being investigated and explored by not just Sony, but several other traditional CE companies as well as a significant chunk of the PC technology sector. The PSX was Sony's attempt to leverage one of their respected brands to gain early mindshare in the budding market but bad initial implementation has compromised that effort.

Still, PSX was no less an "all-out leap" into the home media server business than the PSP is into the handheld entertainment business. There are obviously differences but there are two key similarities: 1) Sony is motivated by competitors encroaching upon the marketplace from all sides 2) They're attempting to leverage the Playstation brand to give them a leg up. The first point is particularly important because many people around here tend to ignore the big picture and focus on just the perceived GBA/DS/PSP rivalry. You of course mentioned Ngage and the Zodiac but there's also the Gizmondo coming soon, and there's the need to consider the cell phone gaming sector as well as the more platform agnostic software environments for portable gaming such as Java, Fathammer, etc. In addition there's another class of device that's beginning to appear that will ultimately approach this from a different angle before long: Portable Media Players beginning to appear from the likes of Archos, Creative, iRiver, Samsung, using the Linux OS or Microsoft's Portable Media Center OS. These devices are focused on movies and music now, but before long I would certainly expect their kind to incorporate more and more gaming ability.

Of course, none of these devices has yet mounted a credible initiative into the growth of the handheld entertainment market or captured of significant marketshare yet, but what is significant is that there are now many companies competing simultaneously to expand and diversify the market in ways that have been previously left untouched or only tried by one or two companies at a time.

So Sony's motivation to succeed with the PSP probably comes as much from their desire to beat these CE and PC companies to the punch in the portable entertainment sector as much as it is an attempt to benefit from the inroads Nintendo has made in the more narrowly focused handheld gaming segment.